{"id":32329,"date":"2013-10-09T20:25:32","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T00:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=32329"},"modified":"2013-10-09T20:25:32","modified_gmt":"2013-10-10T00:25:32","slug":"omiyage-and-gift-giving-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/09\/omiyage-and-gift-giving-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Omiyage and Gift Giving in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Benjamin Martin<\/strong><\/a>, a JET from 2008-2013 in Okinawa<\/a>, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com<\/a><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and author of the award-winning<\/a> YA fantasy series\u00a0<\/em>Samurai Awakening<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(Tuttle).<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you like\u00a0souvenirs? \u00a0Do you collect trinkets? \u00a0Maybe you love trying various foods that are unique to a town or area. \u00a0If you do, Japan might be the place for you.<\/p>\n

Gifts are (arguably) one of the central aspects of Japanese culture. \u00a0For those of you that point to Christmas in western cultures,\u00a0Hanukkah, or other massive gift exchanges as an argument against gifts being such a big deal, it comes down to perspective. \u00a0For single-day gift giving Japan does not stand toe to toe with a pile of presents around a Christmas tree or a mass onslaught of birthday gifts.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, when I was a teacher on Kitadaito I got presents nearly every week. \u00a0Once I\u00a0received\u00a0seven (yes 7) strawberry plants, for no reason at all. \u00a0But then there are two major aspects to gift giving in Japan.<\/p>\n

Omiyage<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Omiyage<\/em> roughly means souvenir. \u00a0Whenever a person goes anywhere in Japan, they generally buy a load of omiyage<\/em> for their co-workers and family. \u00a0For big trips this can sometimes be toys, figures, pictures, or anything that you might normally associate with souvenirs. \u00a0More often its food. \u00a0Japan has a massive industry around tourism<\/a>. \u00a0Almost anywhere you go in Japan has its own snack food that it’s ‘known for.’ \u00a0There are almost always shops, small to large, that will sell the treats\u00a0conveniently and\u00a0individually wrapped and ready for you in a bag. \u00a0In Okinawa, benimo<\/em> (purple sweet potato tarts) are the most well known omiyage<\/em>. \u00a0In Kyoto there are various kinds of mochi<\/a>, and on Kumejima<\/a> we’re known for our Miso Cookies. Nagasaki is famous for Kastella Cakes<\/a>, and most local places have unique omiyage for each location.<\/p>\n

Often, when teachers go on trips, they bring back a packet of cookies, tea, or other snacks for the break room. Sometimes teachers will bring back more personal gifts for people depending on where they went and why.<\/p>\n

Other Gifts<\/h3>\n

Aside from omiyage<\/em> gifts are given for weddings (cash), birthdays, funerals (cash), and other special events. \u00a0Gifts are even given by new\u00a0tenants\u00a0to their neighbors (usually something useful, like a small towel, or food). \u00a0These other gifts have their own customs for every situation. \u00a0Cash for weddings should be new and in the proper envelope, while cash for funerals the money should be used, and in a different\u00a0envelope. \u00a0Aside from omiyage<\/em> most presents are wrapped as well (even\u00a0souvenirs\u00a0are sometimes wrapped).<\/p>\n

Reciprocal Gifts<\/h3>\n

In Japan it is usually appropriate to give a return gift of roughly half what you\u00a0received\u00a0for most occasions. \u00a0The exceptions are omiyage<\/em> and birthday presents, though usually you would return in kind if you go on a trip, etc. \u00a0Even mourners will return small gifts of towels or rice coupons. \u00a0This tradition is what makes gift-giving a cornerstone of Japanese Culutre. \u00a0It is one of the foundations of polite Japanese society, and the reason for my new strawberry plants.<\/p>\n

Reciprocal gift giving forms a kind of endless circle of ‘obligations’ that help to create relationships in a society where it is difficult to break down social barriers. \u00a0When a new neighbor arrives and gives a small present, there is a unique opportunity for conversation. \u00a0A return gift (though in this instance you are not required to give a return gift, it,s they way of saying ‘regard me kindly while I am living next to you’) is another opportunity. \u00a0It goes deeper.<\/p>\n

When you do someone a favor, they feel an obligation towards you, and want to return the favor. \u00a0It creates a cycle that goes far beyond what most westerners are used to, usually in a good way. \u00a0Sometimes when I make too much food, I’ll take some over to a friend’s or neighbor’s. \u00a0Almost without fail I get something interesting in return. \u00a0 One might be tempted to take the cynical view: you are bribing someone for their friendship. \u00a0But in Japan, it’s so\u00a0ingrained that many people don’t even think about it, if they get something, be it a favor, food, or gift, they will return it.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what I did to deserve my new plants, but I made some banana bread as a thank you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nOn Kitadaito they sell soaps, cookies, and teas made from gettou a local plant<\/em>.<\/a><\/div>\n

Originally published on MoreThignsJapanese.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Goodreads<\/a> Book Giveaway<\/h2>\n
\"Revenge<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Revenge of the Akuma Clan<\/a><\/h3>\n

by Benjamin Martin<\/a><\/h4>\n
\n

Giveaway ends October 31, 2013.<\/p>\n

See the giveaway details<\/a>
\nat Goodreads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Enter to win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Benjamin Martin, a JET from 2008-2013 in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com\u00a0and author of the award-winning YA fantasy series\u00a0Samurai Awakening\u00a0(Tuttle). Do you like\u00a0souvenirs? \u00a0Do you collect trinkets? \u00a0Maybe you love trying various foods that are unique to a town or area. \u00a0If you do, Japan might be the place for you. Gifts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[771,1127,191,772],"class_list":["post-32329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","tag-culture","tag-gifts","tag-japan","tag-more-things-japanese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-8pr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32329"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32412,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329\/revisions\/32412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}